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Can we talk about talking about politics?

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Versatile, Aug 16, 2012.

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  1. deskslave

    deskslave Active Member

    I can't understand why we keep the jackasses and ban the subject. I really can't.

    And for there to be a stickied warning at the top of a board about outing, yet for an offense of that nature to be punished by what appears to be a ban of less than 24 hours, I would have to think rubs an awful lot of people the wrong way. (Put it this way: If I noticed it, then I'm certainly not the only one, because I notice very little of the internal machinations of this place.)

    And I agree with TP: Why are we banning politics, and not, for example, the kind of childish nonsense that makes most of the running baseball thread intolerable to people who just want to talk about baseball? Not to say that we should or shouldn't ban either, but the duality of the approach, I think, is frustrating.
     
    deskslave, Aug 16, 2012
    #13
  2. forever_town

    forever_town Well-Known Member

    I've been personally attacked on one thread, including specifically attacked for my fandom of Stevie Nicks and, as far as I can tell, the poster was never disciplined and his post never deleted.
     
    forever_town, Aug 16, 2012
    #14
  3. imjustagirl

    imjustagirl Active Member

    I'm pretty sure calling someone a Stevie Nicks fan isn't, and shouldn't be, a deletable post.
     
    imjustagirl, Aug 16, 2012
    #15
  4. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    I actually think the ban is a good idea...

    It's one thing when they're banning a troll like Spinning27 who is trying to start fights and nothing else, and Lord knows I was as guilty as anyone four years ago of stirring it up, but I think there are a lot of really good posters here who get wrapped up in something they feel passionately about and the end result is going to be a fight...

    Fights get dirty.

    I think the moderators are definitely right on this one...
     
    Mizzougrad96, Aug 16, 2012
    #16
  5. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    Would a Millard Fillmore: Presidential Hall of Famer? count as politics?
     
    TheSportsPredictor, Aug 16, 2012
    #17
  6. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    I have to respectfully disagree with you on this one.

    I don't have much to add after some of the eloquent pleas by Bubbler and Versatile above, but it seems crazy to me that we can't talk about politics on a current events message board. Politics supposedly bring out the worst of SportsJournalists.com, but I think it brings out the best. The discussions on here are so nuanced and informed, I learn more from the posters here - on both sides of the aisle - than I do from cable news analysts pulling seven figures.

    I realize this is a minority opinion, which is unfortunate.

    That said, the Josh Hamilton ban is clearly necessary and should remain in force.
     
    Dick Whitman, Aug 16, 2012
    #18
  7. Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)

    Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L) Active Member

    I think if we banned Canadians from commenting on American politics it would eliminate more than half the acrimony.
     
    Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L), Aug 16, 2012
    #19
  8. dreunc1542

    dreunc1542 Active Member

    That's racist.
     
    dreunc1542, Aug 16, 2012
    #20
  9. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    My goal during this election season is every time I see a political thread I say, "This may get locked, but I'm not going to be the reason it gets locked..."

    I don't know if I've honored that. I hope I have... :D
     
    Mizzougrad96, Aug 16, 2012
    #21
  10. Greenhorn

    Greenhorn Active Member

    I completely agree with Versatile when he said that many of us choose not to hold political discussions with friends, family and colleagues for obvious reasons. And I agree with Bubbler too. I always loved the political threads (and sometimes go back and read the old ones) from back before I formally joined SportsJournalists.com.

    The political threads were always entertaining and educational if chaotic. I've never been personally attacked (and wouldn't attack any poster) but I believe I could laugh it off and feel like it was all just part of the political threads.

    I'm Greenhorn and I approved this message.
     
    Greenhorn, Aug 16, 2012
    #22
  11. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    I'm not sure who was outed, or what suspension of 24 hours you are talking about. We don't announce suspensions on here and we don't talk publicly about them.

    I'd prefer not to discuss that on the board, if it is OK. We make a policy of not doing that.

    Here is a major point of contention with us, though. If you think someone has outed someone, crossed a line with personal attacks, done anything that violates the obvious level of conversation we'd all like to see here. COME TO A MODERATOR. Report the post. We pay attention when people do that. A lot of times when threads get turned upside, it follows this script.

    Poster1: You are a poopyhead.
    Poster2: Well, your political party is a bunch of liars!
    Poster3: Poster2 should be kicked off the board for that.

    And so on and so on, until the thread has degraded into 5 or 6 people insulting each other and debating what the moderators should do. By then, anyone serious has been driven away from the board.

    It is why when we made an attempt to codify some rules a few years ago (before Kenny and his team took over the board), we purposely included this:

    If you have a problem, come to us directly. Don't turn it into a public debate and put us on the spot for things we are not likely going to see until hours later or the next day -- especially when your emotions are riding high because you are arguing with someone.

    Ya'll can argue that we set up those rules and we have not been very rigid about enforcing them. For example, we don't discipline a lot of people who start threads making the moderating on the board an issue. We warn, but have let some people get away with post stalking.

    You have to understand several things: 1) We are not on here all the time. 2) We are only human and not infallible. 3) By the time we see what you are upset about, it might be the next morning. 4) Even if you are really upset, it doesn't automatically mean we are going to suspend or yell at your arch board enemy. Usually, with those kinds of things, we see TWO unhinged people -- even though the person complaining thinks they are soooooo in the right. 5) We don't like suspending people or banning people or deleting posts. Aside from the pain in the ass it is, we don't want to be board cops. We wish there was little need for moderation. I wish more people believed that. 6) We have lives OTHER than this board.
     
    The Big Ragu, Aug 16, 2012
    #23
  12. doctorquant

    doctorquant Well-Known Member

    Well, hell, you ought to be banned just for that!
     
    doctorquant, Aug 16, 2012
    #24
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